Parking Brake warning: credit where its due

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Corrado

Active Member
Joined
Nov 28, 2007
Messages
224
Location
Sussex Coast
Car
Civit 1.8VTEC
I got in the car after a meeting near Portsmouth yesterday afternoon and as soon as the car moved the parking brake warning went off - it's happened before but has been curable by (a) releasing the parking brake (doh!) or (b) stamping on the brake and letting it fly out with some force. This time, however, neither trick worked; there was no relief. It was getting towards close of business, but the obvious place to visit was Horndean. I headed there with "The Very Best of ELO" blasting loudly to drown out the warning noise. When I arrived at PCS, seeking only to find out which fuse to pull, Olly immediately braved the cold to fix the problem by adjusting the detection switch and lubricating the cables underneath the rear seat. Within five minutes I was on my way home enjoying the relative silence, and with the minimum of paperwork . Exceedingly good value:bannana:.
 
I hope the Sky was Blue on your way there, Mister. Certainly is a pain in the ass problem Thing you were Livin' with there - could have been worse if PCS's Telephone Line had been engaged. Still, it wasn't like you were going to be driving All Over The World, so don't let it Bring you (Me) Down.

Just as well it got fixed with some Strange Magic otherwise you would be hoping to catch the Last Train to London.
 
Its a very simple thing to do to lubricate the mechanism....about 5 mins on my C270 estate and about 30 mins on my CLK500 convertible ( as you have to unscrew the seats and centre console containing the speaker first)....
 
Following a query from A210AMG I outline the procedure that I followed to cure the parking brake pedal sticking. I only have experience of my W203 estate and W209 convertible but I think that other cars are probably similar.

Basically the pedal connects to a "Y" linkage below the centre of the back seat and this needs to be lubricated from time to time or else the pedal sticks. The linkage is located below an inspection panel located in the centre of the car below the back seat.

In my W203 estate it is easy to reach the access panel by simply folding the seat bases forward. The panel can be unscrewed and the linkage lubricated. I used WD40 and this seems to have worked.

Reaching the panel in my W209 was a bit more complicated as I had to unbolt the seat bases (the only bolts in my car are to the front edge of each seat). The seat bases can then lifted out. I then had to remove the screw fixings holding the centre console in place (2 at front and 2 to rear) and remove wires serving the speakers. The console then lifted out revealing the access panel.

Neither car took long to sort out and the pedal in each instance has continued to operate correctly since.

Note that lifting the seats will reveal a number of removable panels....the correct one is the one to the centre.

Hope this helps.
 

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